Request for Question Clarification by
mathtalk-ga
on
13 Mar 2004 08:38 PST
Hi, tiewire-ga:
If I were trying to do this, I would begin by experimenting with how
your 16-bit executable runs in a "DOS" box (which should actually be
referred to as a Command Shell if you're operating system is in the NT
family, ie. W2K or WinXP).
If you're lucky, then you can obtain the effect you want by input
redirection. That is, on the command line, try something like:
C:> myOldProg < textInput.txt
where the file textInput.txt contains just those characters which one
would ordinarily enter from the console (keyboard). In your case that
apparently means the input "source" file name and the ouput file name
(with Enter, or CR/LF at then end of each input line).
When programs can be successfully "driven" in this manner, it is
likely possible to get them to work "behind the scenes" from VB6 or
VB.Net with a call to the Windows ShellExecuteEx API. From a .Net
perspective one hurdle here is that this unmanaged code, so a bit of
conscious navigation is required to manage the transition from managed
to unmanaged code.
I believe the amount you've offered for this Question is not typical
of questions requiring the same amount of effort to answer well.
Although a Researcher may take a special interest in your Question,
you might want to review the guidelines provided by Google Answers
here:
http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html
regards, mathtalk-ga
